Events
Allens Arthur Robinson hosts many seminars, workshops and entertainment functions that provide an opportunity for senior women from diverse industry backgrounds to meet one another and exchange views and experiences.
Special events
Allens has hosted tables with our clients at a number of special events, where the focus has been on women in a particular industry, has featured a female guest speaker who has achieved or made an impact in her area of expertise, and some more light-hearted events, providing a comfortable environment for women to network.
Below are some examples of recent events.
Melbourne Fashion Festival
A group of our women partners and clients previewed the new season's fashions at the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Runway Show II in March 2007. Hosted in the custom-built Fashion Cube at the Melbourne Museum Plaza, the latest collections were shown by labels such as Willow, TL Wood, Mad Cortes, Kate Sylvester and Christine. After finalising their shopping lists for the new season, the group had dinner at Masani in Carlton.
International Women's Day function
Inspiring quotes from famous women such as Virginia Woolf, Golda Meir, Madeline Albright and Harriet Beecher Stowe were printed on guests' name tags at the International Women's Day function held in Allens' Sydney offices on 8 March 2007. With a theme of celebrating women around the globe, all services (such as catering and florals) were supplied by female-owned businesses/organisations and, where possible, community trade organisations were used so that women and children in impoverished communities could benefit. Wendy McCarthy AO presented a short speech on 'A women's place is everywhere'.
International Women's Day Debate
Allens partners and clients attended the International Women's Day debate at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on 8 March 2007. A panel of eminent women, including Channel 7 journalist Kay McGrath, Suncorp Metway corporate banking national manager Tracy Dare, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary CEO Michelle Monsour, KD Public Relations CEO Kristin Devitt, i.lab Incubator CEO Anne-Marie Birkill and Educator & CFO Sue Chapman, debated 'That the sticky floor is the new glass ceiling'.
Dame Roma Mitchell Memorial Luncheon
Claire O'Connor and Rebecca Gilsenan, advocates for asylum seekers in immigration detention, were the guest speakers at the Law Institute of Victoria Dame Roma Mitchell Memorial Luncheon, held at Zinc at Federation Square on 9 March 2007. Claire, who is at the South Australian Bar, and Rebecca, who works at Maurice Blackburn Cashman, spoke about the impact of detention on the mental health of refugees, and examined the legal implications that arise from the detention of refugee applicants in detention centres in conditions that cause mental illness and the failure to then recognise and treat that illness. The luncheon is held every year to celebrate International Women's Day and commemorate Dame Roma Mitchell, who was Australia's first female QC and the first woman to become a Supreme Court judge.
Women in Partnership Seminar Series
A new addition to the Women at Allens stable, the Women in Partnership seminar series complements existing initiatives, providing a forum for our women and their clients to be challenged and inspired by a range of guest speakers. In conjunction with KPMG, the launch of the seminar series featured social commentator and KPMG partner Bernard Salt who hosted a lively discussion on generational change. The function was held in Melbourne in May, in Sydney and Brisbane in August, and in Perth in September. Guests were given a copy of Bernard's latest book The Big Picture, which examines the social and demographic questions facing Australia.
